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The pope used the meeting and subsequent speech to Peruvian authorities to denounce corruption as a 'social virus' that infects all aspects of life and must be combatted.

Earlier in the trip Francis warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold.

He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday.

In the powerful communication, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds' and had 'never been so threatened'.

Pope Francis has warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold

Pope Francis blesses a baby during a meeting with an indigenous group from the Amazon basin

He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday

He also lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation'.

Amazonian indigenous leaders in Peru are urging Pope Francis to help them protect the world's largest rainforest from an onslaught of new threats that are dramatically changing the biome.

One of the leaders, Hector Sueyo, told the Pope that native peoples are worried about the Amazon as trees disappear, fish die and rivers become contaminated.

Sueyo said that 'the sky is angry and is crying because we are destroying the planet.'

Indigenous leaders had hoped the Pope would deliver a forceful message encouraging the government to recognize their land rights and clean up rivers contaminated by illegal mining.

Francis has previously spoken about the need to protect the Amazon, which he likens to one of the 'lungs of our planet.'

Pope Francis waves to the crowds as he attends the mass meeting in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado

In a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds'

He also lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation'

And thousands of indigenous men, women and children traveled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia

Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado

Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people. Tribesmen gathered in a coliseum to hear him speak

And thousands of indigenous men, women and children traveled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.

Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado.

They then gathered in a coliseum to hear him speak.

Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people.

Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed.

Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of.

Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of. He was also shown a beautiful painting by tribesmen (pictured)

Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed. During his warm welcome, the Pope blessed a child outside the Apostolic Nuncio in Lima (pictured)

'The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present,' said the pope, who appeared visibly moved by the reception.

'Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts.

'The problems strangle her peoples and provoke the migration of the young due to the lack of local alternatives.

'We have to break with the historical paradigm that views Amazonia as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants.'

The Pope's warm welcome in Peru stands in stark contrast to his reception earlier this week in Chile, where he drew smaller crowds and his presence provoked protests.

He accused victims of Chile's most notorious paedophile - Reverend Fernando Karadima - of slander after it was claimed Bishop Juan Barros had helped cover up his crimes.